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I missed my chance last year to buy my BYOC badge. This year I've been building a custom acrylic case with alot of amazing color and work. It should be finished well before prime. But I'd like to know when BYOC badges go on sale normally. My last custom rig I was unable to show off at PAX due to no badge. But this year I am really determined to show off my work.

yeah, the earliest anyone will know will be when it's posted on Prime_BYOC and/or Official_pax twitter. Unfortunately there's no set timeframe because BYOC reg can't start until quite a bit of convention center layout work is done since things never stay the same year to year. As @Nullzone said, it will be after East, so other than keeping up on those twitters you can check back here in mid April.

My friends and I are planning on going to PAX Prime, but we're also hoping to save money on travel and hotel costs. As such, I thought I should ask veterans of the expo what the best way is to do that. Should we buy flight tickets / reserve hotel rooms starting now? Wait till deals come up on flights? Are we likely to get a better deal on a hotel room through the PAX Prime site, or is it best to get reservations way ahead of time?

I've seen lots of guides for what to do at the expo itself (which are very helpful), but not for booking flight / hotel. Those are going to be the two biggest costs for us (especially flights, since we are coming from McAllen, Texas), so any tips on saving money on those would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Getting flights early helps, as does finding out what airlines that will get you to SEA also have regional hubs in your area. A flight from San Antonio may be significantly cheaper than one from your local airport, and the cost of driving up is likely to be quite a bit less than the difference. There are quite a few ways to save money if you're willing to give up a little extra time (in terms of when you depart your local area to get there), so depending on how you value that balance of time:money you can do a little math and find an economical approach.

Hotels, it's usually best to wait for the OnPeak deals, as they are negotiated rates. You could always shop around though, or even consider finding out if someone is "renting out" their condo or such during that time; those options may be cheaper depending on your needs and how many people you're splitting with.

Last year I roomed up with a few folks. I ended up spending like $150 for the entire 4 days but the place was huge and I got the entire living room to myself. My suggestion is if your willing, wait till the roomshare thread for PRIME is open, then consider splitting the cost with a veteran pax goer.

Out of curiosity, is there anything like the East Train Alliance going to Prime? This year is my second East, and I kind of want to see the con that started the fun, and it seems like an awesome way to get there.

Out of curiosity, is there anything like the East Train Alliance going to Prime? This year is my second East, and I kind of want to see the con that started the fun, and it seems like an awesome way to get there.

There's the West Coast Train Trip, which is just along the west coast. Going West from the East Coast there are far more people flying usually than Training it since there are more train routes going to East cities than West. There's sometimes a Plane group (Western Aviation Networking Group, WANG) and there's the Cross Country Supertrip which is a car supertrip (happened for a bunch of years, but didn't for 2011) that might happen again.

01-13-12 Some of you have been wondering...
PAX Prime 2012 will take place over Labor Day Weekend, from August 31st through September 2nd.

I can not wait for this!!! Now I know I have already put in for the time off at work! Now the waiting for the passes to go on sale begins. I know for a fact I am going to pay attention to the twitter feed and buy the 3 day passes the hour they are on sale! Not going to come close to not getting them this year. Last year I got them and about 8 hours later they came out with the tweet that they were sold out. Talk about your close calls!

My name is chris and after following PA since highschool I've always wanted to attend PAX but never had the time/funds/transportation/company to ever plan a trip.

Well this year is different (assuming I can get my pass when they go on sale). Me and 3-4 friends will be attending this year!

I do have some questions for the people who live in the area or have attended in the previous years and I truly do apologize if some of the questions have been asked before or have been layed out right in front of me yet I've somehow managed to miss.

Here it goes!

1. Is PAX Prime in Seattle? (Has it always been?) (if not, where is it?)
2. When is PAX Prime? (Do the dates change every year? If so can you give me an estimate?)(August 31st to September 2nd)
3. How much is the basic pass? What are the other passes? (if any)
4. When should I start looking to book a hotel room?
5. What kind of events should I look forward to at PAX that won't require me to bring my own PC?
6. What else is there to do in seattle? (Will be there for 8 days) (museums, metal/rock concerts/ tourist attractions / restaurants / malls)
7. How long does PAX last?
8. What else should I know?

1) yes and yes
2) yeah
3) $60 was last year, it might go up, but not by much (for a 3-day pass, which is what you want). There are no special all-access or whatever passes that people can get.
4) PAX works with a 3rd party hotel service, OnPeak, to get great deals on great hotels. You want to use that unless you can get some super awesome deal without it. The link will go up on these forums and via twitter (and on the front page of the pax website, but twitter and here are better places to look). It will go up within a month (most likely) after PAX East is over. Just check obsessively ;)
5) All of them. Only BYOC (basically a LAN party at pax) requires you to bring your own PC. It is a very awesome but very small part of pax as a whole. To get an awesome idea about what happens at pax, go to http://www.paxcommunitydvd.net/ and get the East 2010 community dvd. While the venue is obviously different, and the content won't be the exact same stuff, it's an awesome primer for the "stuff" at pax.
6) all of the above. There's a pax-people led tour of the city that happens the Wednesday and Thursday prior to pax, even if you don't participate directly, the thread (which goes up in the summer usually) has great ideas about where to go and what to see.
7) you answered that in 2, but if you want more details, it's 10am-2:30am Friday and Saturday, and then 10am-7pm Sunday
8) keep an eye on the forums for PAX Prime events, after PAX East is over (April) for TONS of prime information... we're mostly focused on East right now. Also, you need to follow official_pax on twitter for official announcements (link)

1) yes and yes
2) yeah
3) $60 was last year, it might go up, but not by much (for a 3-day pass, which is what you want). There are no special all-access or whatever passes that people can get.
4) PAX works with a 3rd party hotel service, OnPeak, to get great deals on great hotels. You want to use that unless you can get some super awesome deal without it. The link will go up on these forums and via twitter (and on the front page of the pax website, but twitter and here are better places to look). It will go up within a month (most likely) after PAX East is over. Just check obsessively ;)
5) All of them. Only BYOC (basically a LAN party at pax) requires you to bring your own PC. It is a very awesome but very small part of pax as a whole. To get an awesome idea about what happens at pax, go to http://www.paxcommunitydvd.net/ and get the East 2010 community dvd. While the venue is obviously different, and the content won't be the exact same stuff, it's an awesome primer for the "stuff" at pax.
6) all of the above. There's a pax-people led tour of the city that happens the Wednesday and Thursday prior to pax, even if you don't participate directly, the thread (which goes up in the summer usually) has great ideas about where to go and what to see.
7) you answered that in 2, but if you want more details, it's 10am-2:30am Friday and Saturday, and then 10am-7pm Sunday
8) keep an eye on the forums for PAX Prime events, after PAX East is over (April) for TONS of prime information... we're mostly focused on East right now. Also, you need to follow official_pax on twitter for official announcements (link)

When do Prime passes generally start going on sale? I've gone the last three years, but I can't for the life of me remember when this happens. I'm primarily concerned because I'll be gone for the bulk of February, with no internet access...would hate to come home, to find it sold out!

for the prime inclined: it came up in the east challenge coin thread that prime 2011 coins undersold and are still available for sale. if you were at prime '11 and haven't already snagged one, you still can! also, selling these out, even after the fact, would probably make the company we work with to make these things pretty happy, which is a good thing.

6. What else is there to do in seattle? (Will be there for 8 days) (museums, metal/rock concerts/ tourist attractions / restaurants / malls)
8. What else should I know?

There's SAM, the art museum, which is down by Pike Place Market, a pretty easy walk from the convention center. It has a pretty ok restaurant/bar in it as well though I've only ever tried one thing from there so ymmv on that one. Pike Place Market is itself a giant tourist attraction but I wouldn't recommend you go on Saturday... we did and it was sort of INSANELY PACKED. The MMT does have good ideas on what to visit and teaming up with them makes it a lot more fun in general - the aquarium would have been only ok if I hadn't been with a big group of chatty nerds. Bumbershoot is also the same time as PAX Prime so you could go check out some of the bands playing there depending on if your 8 days fall before or after PAX. There's tons of great food places in Seattle if that's a way you like to kill time (and money) and the weather around prime is (generally) nice enough that just wandering around is pretty fun! Also a lot of shopping in that area. For more specific restaurant recommendations there is usually a foodie thread closer to PAX, but for my money you can't go wrong with any of Tom Douglas's restaurants (Lola, Dahlia Lounge, Serious Pie, Dahlia Bakery) which are all right on the same corner only a few short blocks from the con and easily walkable.

Since you're asking about restaurants and shopping what I would say is... bring more money than you think you need. It's very, very easy to spend money in Seattle! I know there are people who manage to make it through all of PAX on like a $200 foodnfun budget but that is not for me at all. I budget at least $100 per day for food n such and prefer to have $150 per day if at all possible. Is that probably overkill? Sure. But it's nice to be able to go out for a $70 per person dinner or a $35 lunch or spend $50 at Lush and not have to worry about if it's going to leave you shafted for a day later on in your trip. Also since this is your first year, even though you are bringing friends, sign up for as much as the forum-run social stuff as you think you can! It's a great way to meet people and get out and do things you might not otherwise do, like dress up as Harry Potter characters and get drunk.

I really dug the Homewood Suites on the opposite side of the convention center. I had a big King sized room all 6 nights, so there was plenty of room to spare. I didn't share the room with anyone besides my other half, but you could easily fit multiple people in there to cut costs and still have room to spare.

Being able to cook a full meal and not compromise on nutrition was also great. The only down side, if any, was that it was "up" the hill a bit. At about 1AM, it's not very fun to walk up it. I didn't really want to walk through the park area, it felt uncomfortable, but I'm sure it would have helped the walk up the hill.

The Sheraton has the advantage of having a tower and thus have a much larger capacity. It will be much easier to snag a room there, but they will go fast too. It was also really nice, we went in there for the Pre-PAX gaming night activities. The themed hotel keys were awesome, I was jealous we couldn't get one!

I stayed at the sheriton. It was a nice room. The walk there is flat. As for Seattle, I walk downtown most mornings on way to work. Just walk with purpose and don't talk to transients. You will be ok. Course being in a costume might not work as well; but we do have the local super hero. (http://newsone.com/nation/casey-gane-mccalla/video-emerges-of-seattle-super-hero-phoenix-jones-arrest/) I like a room as I live up north and I want to get there early and stay late. A room in walking distance is good for this.

How much is it worth BYOC. I missed last year (I need to keep up on when they go on sale), but have only made one full 3 day event.

On the sales, I'm hearing that twitter is fastest way to know when there on sale? I don't use it, but could get an account if it meens knowing.

Quick note to Nirem: Technically PAX Prime hasn't always been in Seattle. For the first 3 years (2004-06) the show was based in Bellevue. It's still in the greater Seattle area, but very much its own city. Also an excellent place to go if you want to splurge on a fine meal during PAX.

Please tell me that the registration has just not been updated since last years'. It seems like the website was only updated yesterday, but according to the registration page, the badges are all sold out already.

Hello! I have previously been accepted to speak at PAX East, and would like to make a submission for PAX Prime. Seattle is my hometown, so I am always excited to attend the Prime! Is there a specific form to be submitted for this? Thanks!

Does your lvl 85 Shaman have a hot Blood Elf girlfriend, but you are afraid to talk to girls in rl? Does your entire social life consist of your guildies or raid group? This is the case for many of us dedicated gamers (including myself!). If this sounds familiar, let's talk about building social skills and maintaining a healthy life balance whilst still participating in the online worlds that we love. Topics of discussion are physical health, especially for some of us whose arteries are clogged with hot pockets, and social health and balance- which includes maintaining healthy relationships, maintaining employment, and remembering to take a shower! With a little grinding in the right areas, you too can complete the quest-chain that earns you the title "Totally Awesomesauce Healthy Gamer!"

Hello! I have previously been accepted to speak at PAX East, and would like to make a submission for PAX Prime. Seattle is my hometown, so I am always excited to attend the Prime! Is there a specific form to be submitted for this? Thanks!

Does your lvl 85 Shaman have a hot Blood Elf girlfriend, but you are afraid to talk to girls in rl? Does your entire social life consist of your guildies or raid group? This is the case for many of us dedicated gamers (including myself!). If this sounds familiar, let's talk about building social skills and maintaining a healthy life balance whilst still participating in the online worlds that we love. Topics of discussion are physical health, especially for some of us whose arteries are clogged with hot pockets, and social health and balance- which includes maintaining healthy relationships, maintaining employment, and remembering to take a shower! With a little grinding in the right areas, you too can complete the quest-chain that earns you the title "Totally Awesomesauce Healthy Gamer!"

There will be a panel submission setup for Prime just like there was for East. It will take place AFTER East.

Is there an announced venue? and is there a popular hotel close to the venue, like the Westin is in East? Just want to be surveying the area for hotspots and hotels, as I will be staying 5 days prior to prime.

evanextreme on February 2012

New Yorker. @evanextreme on Twitter. I do a ton of things on the internet.
I went to East 11, Prime 12, East 13, and will be attending East 15.